By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “G1 Climax 34 Night Ten”
August 4, 2024 in Aichi, Japan at Dolphin’s Arena
Streamed live on New Japan World
This year’s tournament is comprised of 20 competitors, split into two 10-man Blocks. This is a round-robin tournament, so each man will have nine tournament matches. This show features just the B Block in tournament action. Walker Stewart provided commentary. The venue is an arena. The ring is well-lit but the crowd is in the shadows so it’s hard to gauge attendance, but it’s in the thousands.
1. “United Empire” Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman defeated Toru Yano, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Shoma Kato at 7:19. Shoma and Akira opened with quick reversals. O-Khan worked over Yano. Tanahashi entered at 4:00 and hit Dragonscrew Legwhips on all the opponents, and a second-rope summersault senton on Akira. Akira put Shoma in a Boston Crab. Akira hit a faceplant and the Fireball running double knees to the back of the head for the pin. O-Khan and Akira glared at each other afterwards, as they will square off in tournament action.
2. “Bullet Club War Dogs” Jake Lee and Gabe Kidd defeated Tomoaki Honma and Shota Umino at 11:15. The heels came out first; Kidd attacked Shota as he entered the arena and they brawled toward ringside. Lee and Honma paired off and brawled as well. The bell rang to ‘officially’ begin at 1:16 as they got into the ring. Lee bodyslammed Honma. Honma hit some chops on Kidd. Shota hit a fisherman’s suplex on Kidd at 5:30. Shota hit a dropkick on Lee and they were both down. Honma tagged back in but he missed a Kokeshi falling headbutt. Lee hit a back suplex on Honma for a nearfall. Honma was able to hit the Kokeshi, then a diving headbutt to a seated Lee for a nearfall. Lee applied a front guillotine choke, and Honma passed out. So, the official time is about 10:00 even.
* Due to an injury to Kosei Fujita, the third preview tag match was canceled. Kayfabe, this gives Zack Sabre J. a huge advantage to have the shows off between tournament matches, while his opponents have to participate in these meaningless tags.
3. “Los Ingobernables de Japon” Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi defeated “Just 5 Guys” Sanada and Taka Michinoku at 7:23. Sanada and Shingo opened. They went to the floor where Shingo whipped Sanada into the guardrail. LIJ worked over Taka. Sanada hit a dropkick on Shingo at 4:30. Sanada hit a huracanrana. Taka tagged back in and he hit a Mafia Kick and a superkick on Shingo, and he tied up Shingo on the mat and cranked back on his head. Shingo nailed a Pumping Bomber clothesline to pin Taka. Naito essentially took a day off, too! He never removed his shirt and he certainly didn’t break a sweat.
* This is the sixth tournament match for each competitor. Each win is worth two points; a (rare) draw is worth one point each. Thus each competitor has a maximum of ten points at this time. Also, a reminder that THREE competitors from each block make the playoffs, so even someone at 2-4 (4 points) is still mathematically alive.
* Gabe Kidd joined Walker Stewart on commentary.
4. David FInlay (w/Gedo) (8) defeated Boltin Oleg (4) in a B Block tournament match at 12:44. Oleg immediately showed off his amateur wrestling skills by tying up Finlay on the mat. Oleg hit some shoulder tackles; he went for a gut-wrench suplex but Finlay scrambled to the floor to regroup at 2:00. (Oleg tossed Finlay around in the preview tag a day ago!) They brawled on the floor, where Finlay shoved him back-first into the guardrail. In the ring, Finlay hit knee strikes to the lower back and was in charge. Finlay applied a modified Camel Clutch and kept the pressure on the lower back, but Oleg reached the ropes at 5:30. Finlay hit a snap suplex for a nearfall. Oleg slammed Finlay and they were both down. Oleg hit a Stinger Splash, a shoulder tackle, and a splash to the mat for a nearfall at 8:00.
Oleg picked up Finlay, flipped him around in his arms, and nailed the gut-wrench suplex. He went for a Vader Bomb but Finlay got his knees up to block it. Finlay hit an Irish Curse backbreaker over his knee. Oleg hit a belly-to-belly suplex and this time he hit the Vader Bob for a nearfall at 10:30. They traded forearm strikes. Finlay hit a forward Finlay Roll for a nearfall! (That has been Oleg’s finisher!) Oleg hi a German Suplex for a nearfall, and he set up for the Kamikaze, but Finlay escaped, and David hit a standing powerbomb, then Overkill (pop-up kneestrike to the chest) for the pin. Good action. Finlay started 0-2 but has picked up four straight wins and is now leading the block.
5. El Phantasmo (w/Jado) (4) defeated Yuya Uemura (6) in a B Block tournament match at 14:21. Yuya hit some deep armdrags. Yuya was slammed and sold pain in his neck. ELP hit some kneedrops to the head and was in charge, as Yuya sold being dizzy and woozy. Yuya hit a basement dropkick at 4:30 but he sold the pain in his neck. He started working over Phantasmo’s left arm. ELP dove through the ropes onto Yuya at 6:30. Phantasmo hit a springboard dive, going over the guardrail and onto Yuya in the crowd. In the ring, ELP hit his Lionsault for a nearfall at 8:30. They got up and traded forearm strikes.
Phantasmo applied an anklelock. Yuya hit a butterfly suplex and went for a crossarm breaker, but ELP got his feet on the ropes. ELP hit a tornado DDT and a Burning Hammer at 11:00! He nailed a frogsplash for a nearfall, an enzuigiri, and a back suplex. Yuya hit a German Suplex. ELP popped up and hit a clothesline. Yuya hit a dropkick, and they were both down at 13:00. Uemura hit a Dragon Suplex with a high bridge for a believable nearfall. El Phantsmo got a folding press rollup out of nowhere for the pin! Good action; probably my favorite ELP match of his tournament. They shook hands afterwards.
6. Jeff Cobb (8) defeated Henare (6) in a B Block tournament match at 12:40. A matchup of United Empire faction teammates. They glared at each other, charged, and locked up, and hit shoulder tackles and forearm strikes. Cobb hit a spear into the corner at 1:30. He hit a gut-wrench suplex, and Henae immediately sold pain in his lower back. Cobb ‘surfed’ on Henare’s back. He hit a second-rope superplex at 6:30, then a standing moonsault for a nearfall. He hit a Spin Cycle swinging back suplex. Henare went for a running knee but Cobb caught him and slammed him, and hit a diving forearm. Henare finally hit the running knee to the forehead in the corner at 8:00.
Henare hit a uranage and a running Penalty Kick, then a Berzerker Bomb for a nearfall. Cobb hit a German Suplex but Henare popped up and hit the Rampage football tackle for a believable nearfall at 10:00. Cobb hit a decapitating clothesline and he was fired up. He set up for Tour of the Islands but Henare escaped. Cobb hit a modified F5, spinning Henare to the mat. Cobb then hit the Tour of the Islands swinging powerslam for the decisive win. A really good hard-hitting match. Cobb moves into a first-place tie with Finlay.
7. Hirooki Goto (6) defeated Konosuke Takeshita (6) in a B Block tournament match at 14:04. A lockup at the bell and a feeling-out process and they switched to forearm strikes, and Takeshita hit his flying clothesline. They went to the floor, where Takeshita hit a DDT on the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, Takeshita stomped on Goto and kept him grounded. He hit a stiff forearm that dropped Goto at 4:30. Goto hit a clothesline and they were both down. Goto hit a back suplex for a nearfall. Takeshita hit a huracanrana, then a flip dive onto Goto on the floor. In the ring, he hit a jumping knee. Goto hit a neckbreaker over his knee.
They got up and traded forearm strikes. Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall at 9:00. Goto hit a second rope sunset flip powerbomb for a believable nearfall. Takeshita hit a piledriver then a wheelbarrow German Suplex, but Goto popped up and hit a clothesline and they were both down at 11:30. Goto hit the GTO elbow drop to the sternum for a believable nearfall. Takeshita hit a brainbuster for a believable nearfall. Goto hit a second GTO for a nearfall and I thought that was it. He hit a third one, this one was over his knee, for the clean pin. A bit of surprise outcome here and a heckuva match
8. Yota Tsuji (6) defeated Ren Narita (6) in a B Block tournament match at 20:21. Ren hit a dropkick on Yota as Tsuji was entering the ropes, and they brawled on the floor, with Yota still wearing his entrance jacket. Ren wrapped Yota’s leg around the ring post and slammed it. They brawled into the crowd, where Ren whipped Yota into rows of chairs. Yota got up but was limping as he hobbled back into the ring at 4:00. Ren of course immediately kicked out the sore knee and stomped on it. Ren hit a brainbuster for a nearfall and he twisted Shingo’s knee. Yota went for a huracanrana, but Ren shrugged it off, and Ren applied a Boston Crab, with Yota reaching the ropes at 7:00.
Yota hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker over his knee and they were both down. He hit a shoulder tackle and a splash to the mat for a nearfall. He hit a suplex for a nearfall at 9:30. Ren hit an Exploder Suplex and a Helluva Kick, and he again grapevined the damaged leg on the mat. Yota applied a Boston Crab, but Ren reached the ropes at 13:00. Yota set up for the top-rope Stomp, but Ren shook the ropes and Yota fell to the mat. Yota hit a stomp on the forehead. Ren went back to the grapevine on the leg.
They got up and Yota hit a headbutt and a modified Cradle Shock for a nearfall. Ren shoved Yota into the ref, and he hit his running Guillotine (kneestrike to the neck). He grabbed his push-up bar but Yota blocked it. Yota hit a hard kneestrike to the collarbone, but he missed the top-rope stomp to the head. Ren hit a low blow, then a top-rope Guillotine for a believable nearfall! (I have never seen Ren hit that move off the top rope.) Yota hit a flipping powerbomb for a nearfall. Naita avoided the Gene Blaster spear and he hit a chop block. Yota blocked the Double Cross (X-Factor faceplant) and he nailed the Gene Blaster for the pin. Satisfying match, and Yota needed that win to stay in the playoff hunt.
Final Thoughts: On Saturday, every wrestler with fewer points won, pulling everyone closer to a .500 record. Here, David Finlay was the only wrestler to win over a competitor with a worse record. I’ll give Takeshita-Goto best match. I really assumed Konosuke was winning there, but it was a good competitive match. The main event was good for second, and the hard-hitting Cobb-Henare was a close third; I wouldn’t be surprised if that match earns some votes for best of the night.
So, Finlay and Cobb are 4-2 (eight points) to lead the way, but again, with three wrestlers reaching the playoffs, everyone is still mathematically alive. The tournament takes a day off before returning on Tuesday with the A Block in action, featuring Shingo Takagi vs. Sanada, Shota Umino vs. Tetsuya Naito, and EVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
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